A disk drive for receiving a removable disk cartridge is known. Examples of such a disk drive include a conventional 3.5 inch `floppy` disk drive, a "ZIP" disk drive as developed and marketed by IOMEGA Corporation of Roy, Utah, and the like. Such a disk drive is typically coupled to a processor or the like, and facilitates an exchange of information between the processor and a disk contained within the disk cartridge. The disk and the disk drive may be magnetically or optically based, for example.
The disk cartridge typically includes an outer casing or shell that houses the aforementioned disk therein. The disk is mounted on a hub and can rotate freely within the cartridge. Typically, the disk drive includes a motor which engages the hub of the disk and applies a rotating force to such hub. The outer shell has an aperture at an edge thereof (at least in the case of a "ZIP" disk as developed and marketed by IOMEGA Corporation of Roy, Utah for use in connection with the aforementioned "ZIP" disk drive), and the disk drive includes at least one read/write head that is brought into close proximity to the disk in the disk cartridge by way of the aperture for purposes of reading data from the disk and/or writing data to the disk. A shutter may be provided to cover the aperture when the disk cartridge is removed from the disk drive. Such disk drive may include a shutter opening feature for automatically opening the shutter upon inserting the disk cartridge into the disk drive.
In a relatively sophisticated drive such as the aforementioned "ZIP" disk drive, it is desirable to include an electronically actuatable disk cartridge ejection feature. Accordingly, ejection of the disk cartridge merely requires an appropriate electronic command, originating either from the processor coupled to the disk drive or from the disk drive itself. Of course, prior to disk cartridge ejection, the read/write head(s) of the disk drive are retracted from the disk inside the disk cartridge to a retracted position where ejection of the disk cartridge will not harm or destroy the sensitive head(s).
In the case of the aforementioned "ZIP" disk drive, one assembly is provided for receiving the disk cartridge, retaining the received cartridge, and ejecting the retained disk cartridge, and another assembly is provided for retracting the read/write head(s) prior to disk cartridge ejection, where both assemblies are actuated by a single actuation unit. However, a current version of such actuation unit is a rather complicated affair having multiple cogs, gears, worms, levers, and the like, and consequently is relatively expensive to manufacture.
A need exists, then, for an actuation unit that is simpler and that is therefore relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Moreover, a need exists for corresponding assemblies that are compatible with such a simpler actuation unit, where such assemblies are also simple and therefore relatively inexpensive to manufacture.